KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After leading the UTA men's basketball program to the most successful season in program history, Mavericks men's basketball coach Scott Cross has been selected as the District 24 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Cross, a 1998 UTA graduate, has an association with the institution that spans the last 22 seasons. He is the winningest coach in program history and has led the Mavericks to five of its six all-time postseason appearances.

The Mavericks enter tonight's National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals with a 27-8 overall record after earning an automatic berth into the tournament by virtue of winning the Sun Belt Conference regular season title. The team's win total is the most in program history and its quarterfinal appearance in the NIT is the farthest a UTA men's basketball team has ever advanced in the postseason.

Under Cross' guidance this season, junior Kevin Hervey was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and earned all-district honors by both the NABC and the United States Basketball Writers of America. Point guard Erick Neal is among the national assist leaders and earned second team NABC all-district honors, becoming the first Maverick to do so in consecutive seasons.

Following his playing career as a 2-time CoSIDA Academic All-America and the Southland Conference's top 3-point shooter, Cross joined the UTA staff as an assistant coach and, ultimately, became the head coach on April 21, 2006. He has compiled a 204-147 career record and is the second-longest tenured Division I coach in the state of Texas.

His teams have registered a number of victories over the last few seasons that have grabbed the attention of the college basketball world - consecutive wins at Ohio State and Memphis in 2015-16, then victories at then-No. 12 Saint Mary's and the University of Texas this season.

About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.com.